In the May/June 2009 issue of The Iowan

Two Wheels at a Time      


The Bike Library is changing
the way Iowa City connects.

[ Story by Lori Erickson   |   Photography by Mark Tade ]

In this community that loves books, you’re not likely to find anyone reading at its newest library. Instead of browsing best sellers, patrons are looking for just the right two-wheeled steed. At the Iowa City Bike Library, the goal is to send people out the door with their own low-tech, inexpensive, and ecologically friendly form of transportation.     Opened in 2004, the library has a simple philosophy — bikes are wonderful machines, and everyone should have one. To that end, the volunteer-run enterprise takes donated bikes, refurbishes them, and lends them to the public. If borrowers end up enjoying their loaners so much that they want to keep them, they forfeit the modest deposit and become bike owners.     The library is the brainchild of Brian Loring, who serves as executive director of the nonprofit Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County. In 2003 he helped organize a distribution of free bikes to children through his agency, a project that made him interested in doing cycling advocacy work in the larger community. “I knew of bike-lending programs in other cities, and I thought Iowa City would be a natural place to start one,” says Loring. “Part of the motivation was to give people an entry point into cycling, a place where they could get a bike without spending a lot of money or being intimidated by all the choices in a typical bike shop.”     In 2004 the Bike Library set up a table at the Iowa City Farmers Market, lending out bikes amid the vegetable stands. Interest quickly grew, both among volunteers and those seeking bikes, and soon Environmental Advocates of Johnson County, a local nonprofit organization, became the library’s sponsoring organization. The next year the enterprise moved into a location in downtown Iowa City — appropriately enough just a block from another community landmark, the Iowa City Public Library.     “Our location provides our best advertising because we have thousands of people going by each day,” says Loring. “When someone is cleaning out the attic or garage and finds an old bike, they know where to take it. And when someone needs a bike, they know where to come.”
Mass Transit The bike library, not surprisingly, resembles a bike repair shop. Racks of tools line the walls, and neatly arranged bins hold brake levers, seat posts, gears, and other parts. Near the door stand the bikes ready for checkout, an array of cycles spanning a range of styles and sizes.     Loring and other volunteers maintain a list of lofty goals: to expand transportation options, reduce auto traffic congestion, and promote the health benefits of cycling. The rhetorical rubber meets the road during Saturday morning checkouts. By the time the library opens at 10:00 a.m., there’s often a line of people waiting outside, eager to browse the current offerings. Bikes are matched to riders and are checked out for six months. Each person receives both a bike and a free helmet. After a bicycle is checked out, it may be returned for minor repairs during the six-month period, with the cost of replacement parts charged to the bike recipient.	Check it out: Library “patrons” are already lined up Saturday     morning before the doors open at 10 a.m.
Deposits vary depending upon the type and condition of the bike. A single-speed children’s bike requires $5, an adult bike $20 to $80. If a borrower returns the bike within six months, the library returns the deposit minus any damages beyond normal wear. If they like the bike, they can keep it and forfeit the deposit.     Patrons come in all ages and from many backgrounds. On a brisk morning last fall, borrowers included a woman who was staying in Iowa City just a month and needed inexpensive transportation, a man coming in to exchange his old bike for a new one, and a Chinese graduate student in microbiology, Xiuzhu Sun, who had arrived in Iowa City just two days before. “I rode a bike all the time in China, and I am happy to have one here,” said Sun as he wheeled his new bicycle out into the sunshine.
“We have many international students using our library,” explains Jen Bedet, a volunteer for three years. “All the international students know that this is the place to come for transportation. In fact, we’re part of their orientation to Iowa City. Within their first few days in town, they open a checking account and then come here to get a bike. They’re often surprised that a place like this exists.”      Since 2004 the Bike Library has loaned more than 700 bikes. Roughly half of them have been checked out twice or more. Over the years the number and quality of donated bikes has steadily increased as more people have heard of the program. While the library used to send out regular press releases, it now gets all the donated bikes it can handle without any organized publicity.	No Thoreau at this library, but good wheels for simple living.     Volunteer Erin Fleck (right) checks out a bike and helmet to     University of Iowa student Dimitri Bsilakos (left).
Fostering Community The Bike Library couldn’t exist without the dedication of its volunteers. More than 60 have been involved over the course of the library’s history, with about two dozen involved at any one time. Their job is to make sure the bikes are in good working order before they’re lent out. (A bike in very poor shape will be stripped for parts and the remainder recycled.)     “I started volunteering, in part, as a way to learn more about bike repair,” says Scott Hendrickson, a volunteer for two years. “I began by doing salvage work in the evenings, taking apart junk bikes and saving what we could. Gradually I learned how to do repairs as well. This has been a great place to learn about bikes from more experienced volunteers.”        Steve Goetzelman, a volunteer at the library for more than three years, finds meaning in helping promote environmental awareness. “I live virtually car-free, and I appreciate the chance to help other people get out on a bike, too,” he says.	Volunteer Jan Bedet  (right) rolls a bike out for Nicole Vespa      (left) during the weekly Saturday morning checkout.
The Bike Library sponsors other activities in addition to its lending program. On the first Friday of warm months, it offers free Roadside Breakfasts to bike riders. The program started as an adjunct to Bike to Work Week in Iowa City, when car commuters are encouraged to try biking to their places of employment. As bikers ride past the library, volunteers hand out baked goods, coffee, and fresh fruit. “It’s our way of saying thank you for supporting biking in Iowa City,” says Goetzelman. “We model our breakfasts after a similar program in Portland, Oregon, which has a very active bike culture. Our goal is to foster a similar culture here.”     The online extension of that culture is the Bike Library’s website, which provides a virtual hangout for cycling enthusiasts. Volunteers share information, thoughts, announcements, and suggestions relating to the Bike Library or cycling in general. Recent posts included information on upcoming repair nights, a call to attend a meeting regarding the installation of new bike trails in Iowa City, and an ode to the joys of winter cycling.	Volunteers like Scott Hendrickson ensure a safe ride.
The Bike Library, in other words, does more than just lend bikes. Like any good library, it’s a catalyst for discussion, enthusiasm, and community. “From the beginning, we hoped that the Bike Library would help serve as a focal point for cycling in Iowa City,” says Loring. “We wanted to get more people cycling, we wanted to see our community become more liveable, and we wanted our environment to be healthier. I think all those things have happened. Best of all, the library has helped Iowa City think of itself as a bicycling community, and that’s all for the good.”	Volunteers (from left to right) Steve Goetzelman, Cody     Gieselman, and Jen Bedet offer riders a good start to their     day with a Roadside Breakfast. “It’s our way of saying thank     you,” says Goetzelman.

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